EVE: The Empyrean Age, Tony Gonzales

GWC Community GWC Book Club
#1

Since the GWC crew keep referring to EVE in their recent podcasts, I wondered whether GWCers read EVE: The Empyrean Age by Tony Gonzales. I’ve played EVE for almost 2 and a half years. However, I’ve only recently started listening to GWC. So, I had anxiety regarding starting a new thread. But, I asked Casilda about starting a thread and here it is.

To be quite honest, I’m like Skids and Mudflap from Revenge of the Fallen. I “don’t really do much reading.” But once I started Empyrean Age, I didn’t want to put it down. In fact, I’m looking forward to the announced sequel by Tony Gonzales plus The Burning Life by Hjalti Daníelsson. Empyrean Age is darker than the Star Wars and Star Trek novels I used to read. Yet, I enjoyed it despite some small unanswered questions about the plot. Maybe they’ll be answered in the sequel.

Anyway, what did other people think? Assuming I’m not the only one who read it…

#2

I haven’t read it, but your comment about being someone who doesn’t “do much reading” really resonates with me. I’m the opposite - I read all the time, by choice, but my spouse doesn’t. However, when there’s another property he likes (for you, EVE, for him, the Harry Potter movies), books are more attractive to him.

I’ve never read any book based on a video game - are there genre conventions? Any particular recommendations? Would Gonzales’s book be OK for someone who doesn’t play EVE to read?

#3

If put down a book for whatever amount of time, I may not get back to it. I’m like that when I’m pausing movies and TV shows as well. It could be a symptom ADD. Or, maybe some stories I read, movies and shows I watch aren’t interesting enough to keep my attention. I think it’s more the latter.

Also, I actually put Empyrean Age down to sleep, then finished it the next day. I spent 6 hours the first day, then finished the rest in about 16 hours. I’m a slow reader, but I believe I would have picked it up again if I had to put it down during the 16 hours.

I used to read semi-regularly. Movie novelizations were a favorite. Then, novelizations reached a point where some movies were actually better than their novel counterparts, and I stopped.

Still, to answer your questions Gonzales does an excellent job of explaining EVE related conventions to non-players. This is truly a sci fi novel more than a game novelization, and Empyrean Age can stand on it’s own. However, I haven’t read other game related novels in a while.

To be fair, the tricks Gonzales used to explain EVE related conventions are a bit transparent to me (such as a military advisor explaining how or why something works to a politician), but I feel that’s because I play the game. It would be similar to Timothy Zahn or Kevin J. Anderson using a Jedi to explain how a light saber works to a padawan.

So, you needn’t play to enjoy the book in my opinion. But, players would get more out of the novel because Gonzales and the developers of EVE wove the novel and game together. Empyrean Age is an expansion as well as a novel, and events in the novel changed the game dramatically. I’m admittedly biased, so take my opinion as you will. (:

I hope my walls of text were helpful.

#4

Definitely helpful. When I have a gap in the reading schedule I will definitely see if one of my local book purveyors has a copy

#5

Read it, loved it. wish there were more. its a rich world and there are plenty of oppertunities to tell its stories.

#6

There will be more, but not by the same author.

http://www.amazon.com/EVE-Burning-Life-Hjalti-Danielsson/dp/0765324865/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0

March 30th, 2010.

#7

The burning life definatly sounds good, all about the pirate life.